Fire and Darkness: the story of an unusual Dragonborn
by anotherkamila
Summary: I don't belong. Even after all the years, all the answered questions, all the questioned answers, this place still feels strange. More so for the role I myself play in these strange events, in changing this strange world. A Drow Dragonborn! The gods must have gone crazy. But I will get my answers, strange or crazy, I will understand, I will!
1. Part I (intro)

I will not be forgotten, of that I am quite sure. But deeds become legends and legends shroud the truth, and so it would be wise to record the true passing of things, lest my work be forgotten and my path lost in tales.

* * *

><p><strong>Part I: The Sky<strong>

* * *

><p>I still remember the smoke and smell of burning flesh. My people, forced to live deep underground, both cherished and feared the light and heat of fire; our fire is a god, loved, adored, hated. Sometimes she gives, sometimes she takes. This fire was of the second kind - it burned and charred and smoke was rising from the old homes of my clan.<p>

I ran, for I knew outcasts would not be spared. I ran, hoping to hide in a cavern and wait for the fire in their hearts to tire. Everyone in my clan was doing the same, and the survivors would one day emerge to build up our former glory. That was the way of things with my people. But none of that was in my mind. At that moment all I could do was run.

I ran and ran and ran, until the voices were muffled and the fire was far away. Into a deep dark cave I ran, beyond the borders of my people's realm, in hope that they would not dare pursue me into the unknown. I ran until the echoes of the screams all ceased. I ran and ran… but then I could run no more, for the cave was blocked by a strange unfamiliar structure. It was made of metal the color of fire - a little like red gold, but darker and harder to the touch. Flickers of light danced around the structure, spreading from huge blue-green crystals inset in the metal. It looked like the thing was alive. It was beautiful. But it was in my way.

Nothing can stop a youngling of my race driven by fear. I jumped and started to climb the structure, kicking around in order to create a crack or a hole in which I could hide. I knew no one would touch something as unusual and strangely graceful unless their life was in danger, so I'd be safe from the pursuers if I could go just a little further. Embraced by fear, I did not notice that my scrambling set something in motion and the structure began to stir…

I do not know what happened - I have no memories but the horrible feeling, as if someone tried to pull me out of myself. But after a time it stopped. And yet I did not feel the same as before - something was amiss, the fire in my heart was weak, the very blood in my veins seemed cold. Then fear grasped me again with its cold claws - and I ran on, despite the chill in my chest and the vast unknown that stretched beneath my feet. I ran again, oblivious to all the sounds and shaking ground, until I gasped for air and my legs could hardly bear me anymore. I ran until I could no longer see. Then my feet felt something soft and I fell.

There is no way to describe what I felt when I woke up. I was lying on the ground, smelling a wonderfully fresh scent. My hands and feet were touching something soft. My skin was warm, but not as if warmed by fire - it was a less invasive, calmer, shy heat, caressing and healing. I slowly opened my eyes… Ah, the brightness! The light! The vastness of the space above! I had read about these things, but to see them on my own… For the first time in centuries, the eyes of my kind beheld the sky…

* * *

><p><em>Notes about playthroughmods:_

_I play as a Drow Elf (race mod: id 17458 on Nexus)._

_I used Live Another Life (id 9557 on Nexus) to avoid starting at Helgen. One of the options lets you start unconscious in front of a Dwemer ruin, wearing rugs and with empty inventory - just perfect ^^_


	2. Part II, Chapter 1

**Part II: All The First Times**

_For the first few hours I just lay on the grass and breathed, letting my eyes adjust to daylight. When I could finally look around and see at least the larger shapes, and the pain in my eyes became bearable, I decided it was time to stand up and find out where I was. I had heard tales of the surface world, there were books speaking of wonders in my clan's library; but I knew nothing but legends, and so I was eager to explore._

_The rest of my humble beginnings is noted in the journal I obtained shortly thereafter, therefore I will now let my housecarl transcribe it to complete the first part of my story, and amuse myself with other matters in the meantime._

* * *

><p><strong>Day 1<strong>

I have absolutely no clue what is going on. All I know is I am pretty far from home. But let me start at the beginning.

When I woke up and adjusted for being under the beautiful sky, I felt like running - away from that strange stone structure, all too reminiscent of the metal mechanism that made me feel like I'd never be myself again. However, one can never be too careful, especially in new territory, and so I took to walking. I know from books there are supposed to be white shapes called 'clouds' in the sky (yes, the word we use for smoke or dust down there, but these were supposedly something different), but I haven't seen any - the sky is completely, utterly, wonderfully blue. I suppose white clouds in the sky must be stuff we made up for lack of information, like dragons and whatnot.

Anyway, soldiers. And those… other people. I was walking down a slight slope when I heard noises. It sounded like fighting, so I took to running, naturally. But after a while the sounds stopped, and my curiosity won. I came closer, and there she was. A wild-looking woman in an armor that protected a curiously small portion of her body. Another one like that was lying on the ground behind her, together with two men who I suppose were soldiers of some kind. From what I could see, I was pretty sure she was human, although my books did not show such savage-looking ones. What my books did say, though, was that humans hated and despised us, and together with other peoples of the surface drove us down, into our caves. But something was amiss - we have been living in the Underdark for hundreds of years, never once coming up. This woman should at least look surprised, right?

Maybe she didn't have time for looking surprised. She started after me, and didn't exactly seem to be in for a friendly conversation. I ran, of course, but being taller than me, she was faster. Soon I had to slow down, and she was getting closer. For the first time in my life, it seemed running would not help. So, as a proper young Drow driven by fear, I turned around without thinking and headed back to the dead soldiers. I'd have to defend myself, but there was no way I was facing this woman bare-handed.

I got to the soldiers seconds before the woman caught up with me. I did not enjoy the closer look, the soldiers' wounds were fitting for someone dead. But there was no time for being sorry about those guys now. Grabbing both of their swords, I charged toward the woman. I must have looked as fearless and savage as her, but, of course, the opposite was true: I was numb with fear, but I was protecting my life and so there was nothing to lose.

One of the soldiers' swords got stuck on the teeth of her weird sword or whatever it was, but my momentum was enough to twist her arm away from her body. With the other sword I senselessly hacked and slashed, not heeding my safety or anything. My ferocity apparently surprised her, for she was just a tad too slow to stop my blow.

I kept hacking and slashing, hacking and slashing, in the fear-induced ecstasy that has worked for centuries to keep my kind alive. I do not know when she died, but after a while she was dead enough. I suddenly started shaking wildly. There was blood all over me. She was just a human, it wasn't like killing a Drow. They had been killing us by the hundreds before we hid in the caves. Still, it was a first. I wasn't feeling all that great. My books did not mention this.

But life goes on (well, mine does). I had a few questions needing answers. And I knew well enough that up here they also have money. So I put on the smaller soldier's armor, wiped the bloody swords and hung them on both sides of my waist and wrapped the other guy's armor, his bow, both the soldiers' purses, the women's weird armors and the pretty violet crystal that one of the women had in the rags that I had been wearing.

Close to the bodies was a road. A real stone-paved road like in the books. And roads go to cities. I would soon find out if the cities were as wondrous as the sky!

The road was uneventful: I met a lone wolf (a real wolf, like in the books!), but it was not interested in me, and so I was free to enjoy the sun and sky. Soon enough the path curved around a hill - and far in the distance I saw a wall. It was built of stone, like the road. But there the similarity ended - the craftsmanship was incomparable. That wall looked like it could withstand thousands of years, the stone blocks were huge and finely carved. And high above the wall were towering buildings so tall they wouldn't fit into most of our caves. It looked like the city was growing out of the mountain. Not even my books had prepared me for this.

And yet, my wonder was an anxious one. The city was beautiful, but, like the stone structure near which I woke up, it reminded me of the whatever-it-was-that-happened-to-me-in-the-cave. A sense of utter loneliness gripped at me, as if I was the only Drow in the world. But at the same time, I sort of knew deep within that whatever had happened there was not likely to happen again, and this place did not pose more threat than any manling city would. So on I went.

I walked near a farm and received a few casual looks. Nobody attacking me. A good start indeed. But disconcerting, too. Either my whole nation was wrong, or I was very, very far away from home.

Before going inside the city walls, I decided to try talking to someone outside. If needed, I could run away easily, and maybe I'd learn something useful. I spotted a carriage (or whatever it's called) and looked at the man up there.

"Traveling to the Reach is dangerous. You need a good carriage."

It took me a while to respond. His speech was thick with a very unexpected accent. I did not know what accent I expected, but it wasn't this. It felt as if he were speaking a language totally unknown to me, only I understood. It took me a few seconds to realize that, though.

"What can you tell me about this city?" I managed to get out of my mouth. The words felt wrong on my tongue. I was sure what I said didn't make any sense at all, it sounded completely crazy. But the man smiled and started to literally (i.e. figuratively) pour information.

I learned that the city was called Markarth and wasn't built by humans, but by Dwemer, whoever that was. I learned of silver mines, and uprisings, and more uprisings, and other things I didn't understand. I also learned that I could hide my ignorance in shadows, just as I could hide my body. I do not think that guy ever noticed anything strange about our conversation. He did not attack me, either.

Encouraged by the conversation, I headed into the city. The huge gate was guarded by somewhat unfriendly soldiers, who looked very differently from the ones on the road. Good, I don't know if these people would take it well if I tried to sell them the city guard's armor.

As if I hadn't seen enough dead by that time, some crazy guy attacked a woman in the marketplace just as I was entering the city, shouting something about some Forsworn, killed her and in turn was killed by the guard. My attempts at finding out what was going on were promptly quenched by the guards, who didn't seem eager to have strangers dabble in the city affairs. So much for feeling safe. And as if the day wasn't crazy enough, some random guy gave me a note telling me to meet him, apparently trying to look all inconspicuous by stating that I'd dropped it. And, not to forget, I was still stuck who knows where. What a day.

I hurried to the trader which I found by the sign above the door and sold off the extra armors and weapons, but decided to keep the bow and the pretty crystal. In a sudden realization that this probably wasn't the only crazy day that I'd get through (if I was lucky), I bought this journal to keep track of my adventures. I then headed to the city inn, chatted with the (somewhat proud) owner and bought dinner. It's nice to have a purse tinkling with gold and a bed to go with it. I am far from home, but I seem to like the world above.

I will soon go to bed, but before that I'll have a quick look outside. I read that no books could describe the sight of stars...


End file.
